Hey Renegades! I hope the semester is treating you all well. Midterms are around the corner so be sure to keep yourself up to date on your classes. If you need additional assistance take advantage of the free tutoring services offered at BC or drop into the Supplemental Instruction Lab to get some help with your classes.

Today my post is going to be a little different.

I recently met one of the strongest couples on campus that I have ever met. Meeting them has really given me so much perspective on life and how despite whatever you’re going through there are no excuses when it comes to giving up.

Frank and Melinda Madrid have three children to care for. They are also very active within the community doing things like volunteer at the homeless shelter, donating food and clothing, as well as supporting local activist groups. Both are also full time students here at BC this semester. They’re 30 years old and came back to school to better themselves and the lives of their children. This proves that it is never too late to go to school.

On top of all these two already do, there is something bigger and some could even say scarier. Melinda has stage 5 kidney failure and an autoimmune disorder. If you don’t know stage 5 is the final stage of kidney failure. Her kidneys are literally operating at 4%. Frank and Melinda must follow medical dialysis procedures every night to ensure Melinda stay stable. That’s right, every night. Missing a night could turn fatal and Melinda’s health could begin to falter.

Frank and Melinda actually invited me into their home so they could show me the entire process of her dialysis and introduce me to their beautiful children. Seeing the way this power couple lives was truly inspiring. One thing that they both said regularly was “No excuses.” They believe that there is no excuse for giving up or not doing something as best as you could. They keep fighting to set an example for their children. They want their children to know that college is possible and survival is possible even if the odds don’t seem to be in your favor.

Frank and Melinda do so much everyday. With full plates they still manage to go to school and get their work done. There are no excuses. There are so many resources at BC that you can take advantage of. No more excuses Renegades!

“BC is a blessing to us. We’re happy to be here. It feels good. It really does. To be bettering our lives because we never thought that we’d be here. It’s like climbing a mountain and you’re huffin and puffin, you’re tired. BC cut that mountain down and just made a straight path.” – Frank Madrid

One of the most quintessentially “January” things in our culture is the “New Years’ Resolution”. For most people, this means coming up with a goal that they want to accomplish in the coming year. While these range anywhere from “Saving more money” to “quitting smoking” to “give back more”, by far the most common resolution Americans make is to lose weight according to the Statistics Brain Research Institute.

I know that weight has been something I’ve struggled with throughout my college career, and it’s the resolution I made this year.

I know, I know— it’s February now. But I know that, personally, sometimes I’ve messed up and ‘lost my groove’ concerning my new years resolution after a month or two. But that doesn’t mean you should give up!

While it is a relatively simple concept, it can be daunting to actually formulate healthy habits and stick with them. Especially when there is so much disinformation (one of my biggest pet peeves in advertising is products that purport themselves to be ‘healthy’ when they really actually -aren’t-, such as the ever-popular ‘organic’ label on foods. French fries can be organic, after all).

So, I’ll share some of the things that have worked for me in the past that I’m planning to use in the coming year.

Don’t eat any form of junk food

Now, I know this one is pretty obvious. Clearly, you shouldn’t be eating potato chips or candy bars if you want to eat healthier.

However, as I mentioned earlier— food companies have gotten pretty savvy with their marketing to fool people into thinking their foods are healthy.

For example, let’s look at chips. Everyone knows that Doritos or Lay’s Classic chips are obviously “junk food”. But what about supposed-healthier alternatives? Popchips claim to be a healthier option to traditional chips— and they aren’t even subtle about it. With marketing slogans such as “love without the handles” and “spare me the guilt chip”, Popchips are very brazenly suggesting their chips are better for you than those “other” chips. However, Popchips actually have more calories per gram than potato chips. They mask this by claiming that since they are bigger in size, you are getting “more flavor and more chips”. But no one actually measures their chip intake by number— they just eat as many as they want until they feel satisfied.

Pop Chips are made with potato flakes, potato starch, oil, rice flour, and salt. Despite the fact that they are “real ingredients” these ingredients are still not ‘good’ for you. According to Dr. Walter Willett of Harvard University, “these kinds of starches— white bread, white rice, potatoes— are starches that are very rapidly converted to glucose, really pure sugar, and almost instantly absorbed into the bloodstream. And these are the kinds of carbohydrates that we really should be minimizing in our diets.

As the saying goes, “you can’t have your cake and eat it too”. This is true of all junk foods. There is no alternative that will mimic the taste while magically being healthy for you.

Stick to a few basic staples— even if it seems boring

A running trend in the difficulties of switching your diet to a healthy one is that of finding those secret dishes that tastes just as “good” as the burgers, pizza, burritos, etc.

The harsh truth is that there just isn’t any. Now, don’t think that I’m saying that there’s no way to make healthy food that “tastes good”. That isn’t true. But you cannot use the same barometer of “taste” as you do for the high-fat, high-sodium, caloric-dense foods you’re trying to avoid.

A big reason these foods taste “so good” is due to the way in which they are made (like frying) or ingredients (butter) that you’re going to have to just avoid altogether.

An easy way to minimize attempting to make and/or eat “healthy” food that ends up not being so health is to stick to tried and true basic staples.

Something that really helped me when making these foods is using seasonings— Mrs. Dash is a range of seasonings that do not contain salt (so avoiding making your food too high in sodium in attempt to make it taste better).

There are also a wide variety of ways to “spice up” these seemingly-boring foods, like lemon-grilled chicken.

Another big benefit to eating simple staple foods is that it can save you a lot of money— chicken, rice and vegetables can be very inexpensive.

Be active— it doesn’t have to be at a gym or with an expensive workout program

One of the other annoying ways that companies try to squeeze money out of people trying to become healthier is by making it seem like the only way to exercise is by going to an extreme. Whether this is by making people think they need to sign up for expensive gym memberships or purchase $200 worth of DVDs where bulgingly-muscular people scream angrily at them.

While a gym membership can certainly be useful and cost-effective (Planet Fitness is very cheap) and some people may really respond to DVD workouts, it definitely isn’t necessary. Especially if you’re just starting (or re-starting) to exercise regularly, these things can be overwhelming and could potentially cause people to give up. I know that, personally, I’ve often used the excuse of “well I don’t have time to go to the gym today” or “I didn’t make it to the gym today” to forego exercising.

A much simpler way to incorporate exercise when starting out is to be active throughout the day using what you already have: Go for a walk in the morning or during lunch. Ride your bike to school or work (I will admit this one only works if you don’t live too far from either). Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Take the dog for a longer walk— heck, take him on multiple walks throughout the day. Park farther away from the front of the store. Clean your home or backyard much more thoroughly than you usually do. Do simple “body-only” exercises while you watch TV.

There are a multitude of simple things you can incorporate into your day that can make you immediately much more active without going very-much out of your way.

Make achievable goals and track them reasonably

It’s easy to make big goals that can seem daunting— especially if you’re frustrated with yourself. While it may be tempting to say “I need to lose 40 pounds!”, it can do you more harm than good in the long run.

While you may be making progress, you could end up discouraging yourself because you aren’t making the progress you’d like fast enough.

The truth is, there is no way to change your lifestyle and health in an instant. It takes time— but this shouldn’t be something you need to stress about it. Think about it this way: sure, 6 months may seem a long time right now. But think about where you were 6 months ago— does it seem like that long of a time?

Instead of thinking too much on the long-term goal, make small goals that you can feel good about meeting. Instead of the whole 40 pounds, make your goal 5 pounds. Then 5 more pounds. Then 10 pounds.

Better yet— don’t use pounds at all! Sometimes, depending on your individual body type and the sort of exercising you’ve been doing— you may not be “losing” weight, despite the fact you are making progress. Using measurements, pictures, or your own clothing are great alternatives to the scale in measuring your fitness goals.

Whatever sort of measurement you use to keep track of your goals, don’t obsesses about it and track it too often— our bodies can fluctuate wildly from day-to-day. A much better time-span for measuring yourself is once a week rather than once a day.

Remember— health is not always measured by weight or size

World Champion Athletes!World Champion Athletes!

Try to consult your doctor before you jump to any conclusions about your health or fitness. While it is always a good thing to want to become more active and eat better foods, it can be possible to obsess too much about trying to meet an ideal that can actually be bad for your health.

If you think that you or anyone you know may be suffering from an eating disorder, please reach out to the National Eating Disorders Association at 1-800-931-2237 or on their website.

Good luck with your Resolutions, Renegades! Fitness-related or otherwise!

Most of us may use it to keep touch with our friends, sharing funny pictures and videos, and posting things to show the world how cool we are. But, social media has a lot of “constructive” uses too.

It makes me read

Now, you’ve probably heard this before. It’s because it’s very true— one of the best ways to become “smarter” is by reading.

Traditionally, I have known this to mean that you should habitually read a lot of books. However, I don’t think this is the case.

I read all the time. I read every single day. Now, I can’t tell you the last time I read a whole book cover-to-cover. The truth is although I try my best to read books, I honestly have a hard time staying consistent. Either I lose interest, or I get busy with something else and then find it hard to go back to the book. It probably has a lot to do with my ADHD, but that isn’t important.

The point is I still read everyday. What am I reading, you ask? Blogs. Forum posts. FACEBOOK POSTS.

Yeah, you heard me right— Facebook posts.

I know it may seem a little irresponsible of me to suggest that spending hours on Facebook will have the same positive effect on your critical thinking and comprehension skills as reading books or newspapers. But that isn’t what I’m saying. Of course I’m not talking about my friends’ posts about how they are sick of studying for their test and can’t wait to “turnup #yolo”, my cousin’s posts about the new world order, or the endless meme pages.

It Keeps Me Informed

Although people like to chastise the use of social media as collectively “dumbing down the masses”, it really isn’t true in such a blanket sense. Considering Facebook is the second most visited website in the world, traditional media has had to shift accordingly. I’ve probably received over 70% of my news on Facebook. I’ve read essays on Facebook. Op-ed pieces on Facebook. You name it.

It Makes Me Think Critically

I know my close friends would probably say that it is a bad habit of mine, but I tend to get in a lot of Facebook “debates”. I’m sure they’d probably appreciate it if I wasn’t furiously typing away at my phone while they were trying to talk to me— but I definitely don’t believe it to be as much of a “waste of time” as I’m told it is.

While not everyone I argue with on Facebook makes very good points (we’ve all come across those people who just restate their opinions blindly without actually trying to make valid arguments), It still engages me to think critically and formulate my opinions. I don’t know about you all, but I tend to not like to argue with my friends— especially not in person. In-person arguments/debates tend to devolve into who can talk faster or louder quickly. This is something that is avoided through debating on social media— most of the time, I don’t even know the person I’m arguing with. Also, forcing each party to fully form and write down their points serves for a much better-paced back-and-forth discussion.

So, next time someone complains to you about “kids these days” spending “all their time on facebook”, just let them know— “well, it actually makes you smarter”!😉

This was big news at the time, because it had been a whole year prior to that that they had announced on Facebook that they planned to come to Bakersfield. I am very proud of that post— it’s on the front page of Google when you search “firestone grill bakersfield” and is still our number one article on the blog.

Moving on— I was finally able to visit Firestone Grill two weeks ago to try out the food and experienced. Armed with my trusty camera and stomach, I headed over on a Sunday afternoon with my younger brother to see if the reality matched up my hype.

My brother and I arrived to Firestone Grill on a Saturday around 5:15 PM. We actually got a pretty good parking spot close to the front door and there wasn’t that much of a line to the counter. I’d say it was just the right amount of “busy”— clearly people like this place, but it wasn’t so packed that getting your food would be a stressful experience.

picture from the counter service line

We sat at a table towards the “back” of the restaurant— the section closest to the windows facing California Ave. After waiting around 5 minutes or so, I realized something must be wrong. So I got up and went to speak to one of the employees— it turns out that the section of the restaurant that has table service was on the south side, closest to the front door (the two “halves” of the restaurant are separated by a bar in the middle). So, I moved us to a seat close to the entrance. Throughout the night, I noticed that a server would explain the seating situation to people coming in— I suppose we just had bad luck coming in. I would suggest that a simple sign on the door or inside the entrance would both help customers and lighten the servers’ responsibilities.

Once we had sat down at our new table, a very nice young woman came to take our order. We ordered a couple appetizers and drinks, and asked her if we could put in our orders for our main entrees once the apps had come. She made a note of this and left. A food runner brought us our drinks very quickly after ordering them, and my brother and I proceeded to converse and catch up.

found the right table

After about 20 minutes passing, I realized something isn’t right— there’s no way a basket of fries and a basket of onion rings would take this long. I tried to wait for our server to pass by, but she didn’t. I managed to flag down the other server, and she came up to our table. I told her we had ordered our appetizers 20 minutes ago, as well as needed to add our sandwiches to the meal. She said she would check on it right away. Although they weren’t super packed (like I said earlier) I now thought to myself that with only two servers they were perhaps stretching themselves a bit thin. She came back and apologized profusely, saying that the other server had completely forgotten to enter our order. She said the appetizers would be on the house, and that we would get our food right away.

Now, you might be thinking ‘Geez, what’s going on with the service?’. I thought this for a second, too, but then I realized it was more due to the aforementioned short-staffing than the servers themselves not being “on top of it”. For a restaurant that’s only been open for a couple of weekends, I suppose I can’t blame them for not having their scheduling down pat. Also, I always appreciate it when a place fully owns up to their mistakes— it never feels good to have to ‘ask for the manager’.

fries amazingness in fried potato strip form

Sure enough, our appetizers came out straight away. Now, I’ve probably talked about this before but let me just say— these fries are amazing. I’ve seriously never had better fries. They’re just the right amount of crispy-on-the-outside-fluffy-on-the-inside. Their most shining feature, though, is the seasoning. I’m not sure what kind of seasoning they use, but I want some for my personal cooking. It’s salty but with a slight hint of sweet, which creates the perfect storm of flavor that makes me “can’t eat just one”.

iPhone 6+ for size reference

Something I truly appreciate about Firestone is that their “basket of fries” is actually is actually deserving of the name “basket”. I’ve been annoyed in the past with restaurants using this term and completely failing to deliver (like a certain buffalo wing place that claims to be ‘wild’). These suckers come IN A BASKET, as you can see in the picture above.

a ring fit for a king

The onion rings don’t slack of either. They are humongous— both in diameter and thickness. In my opinion, an onion ring fails to deliver if at any point you take a bite and (because the batter is so loose around the onion) you take the whole string with you. Not a problem with these guys— the batter is thick and crumbly, creating a great mix of crunch and gooey-onion-inside.

After we virtually devour these, the server comes back with our two main orders. I had ordered the classic Tri-Tip Sandwich, while my brother ordered the Monster Burger.

a monster of a burger

I’d never had a burger from the Firestone family of restaurants (meaning Doghouse in Fresno). I’ve always stuck to tri-tip or chicken strips. Always striving to adhere to negative Big Brother stereotypes, I made my younger brother let me try it first.

This burger was GREAT. Two thick beef patties separated by strips of American and Jack Cheddar cheese— that first bite was juicy and magnificent. I usually like to order burgers with extra toppings (avocado, guacamole, bacon, sauce, etc) but I can honestly say that this burger didn’t need it. I don’t know what I expected, considering they’ve proven to me to be great at seasoning and grilling before, but I was very much pleased.

the main attraction

Now, the main attraction. This sandwich was my first introduction to Firestone Grill (called Doghouse Grill in Fresno). Once, I had an extra credit assignment for Jonathan “H” Hernandez’s Small Group Communication class at Reedley College— I drove the extra 40 minutes to Fresno State just for this. It is, very sincerely, the best tri-tip sandwich I’ve ever had. I know Bakersfield doesn’t slack on barbecue. We’ve got Jake’s Tex-Mex, Fred’s Barbecue Factory, and of course (featured on Guy Fieri’s Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives) Salty’s BBQ. I’ve been to all of those places and have good things to say about every single one. But there’s just something about Firestone’s Tri-Tip sandwich that is without compare.

thick tri-tip piled high

The tri-tip is so soft it almost melts in your mouth— never a piece of grit or fat. The french roll is buttered and toasted just the right amount. But what is probably my absolute favorite thing about it is the barbecue sauce. Made in-house, the caramel-colored sauce is thick and sticky. I’d say it’s mostly sweet, but not quite. It is so good, I always ask for extra cups to take home.

I definitely left the restaurant that evening very satisfied. Despite a couple of hiccups and confusions at the beginning, it was an overall pleasant dining experience. The food was wonderful and the ambience was good. The pricing is what you’d expect from a barbecue place (and the quality truly speaks for it).

We’re a month into the semester and I hope all is going well for you! Stay on task Renegades!

But if you’re finding it difficult to understand the curriculum you’re learning I have some information from some new friends I’ve made on campus.

Supplemental Instruction is available at the main campus! What is Supplemental Instruction you ask? Meet Dezi, the communications SI Leader, and she’ll give you a brief explanation…

It’s extra tutoring! SI Leaders are chosen by professors because they are seen as the “cream of the crop” in their classes. Sessions are available in so many different subjects like biology, japanese, and even computer coding. They are led by their fearless director Eileen Pierce who makes sure her SI Leaders are fully equipped to run a group tutoring session. So if you’re having some trouble and would like some extra help drop on by in the student services building.

Spring Break is on it’s way Renegades! So let’s keep up the good work until our well deserved break.

Hope you all had a great first week of class and a nice weekend. I know I did— I enjoyed the pleasant weather we had this weekend after all the rain lately (though, I guess rain is ‘good weather’ considering the drought).

Last semester, I posted some tips for starting up a new semester of school. However, most of the tips were specific to “real life” classes. This semester, I’d like to give some tips on taking (and succeeding in) online classes. I’ve taken multiple online courses throughout my time at BC, and this semester I’m taking two! They can be very convenient— but they can also very easy to underestimate.

Put important dates in your calendar

This is something that may seem like a “no-brainer”, but it’s also something that is very easy to forget about or to fall behind on and the repercussions can be dire. You might say “well, isn’t keeping a schedule an important part of succeeding in every class?” Well, yes— but it is especially important in online classes. Because you aren’t physically attending a class multiple times a week, you don’t have the professor physically reminding you about upcoming due dates. So, you have to take more precautions to ensure you don’t miss deadlines!

On the main page of your class Moodle, there will be a box that says “Upcoming events” on the right-hand side. Click the “Go to calendar” text in this box.

On the next page, make sure you bubble-in the “This month” section (most teachers don’t schedule farther in advanced than this in my experience). Then, click the “Export” button.

This will download a “.ics” file that will have different names depending on your OS— on my Mac, they are called “iCalExport.ics”. Either way, if you have a default calendar app on your device, opening this will take you to it and give you the option to add it to your calendar.

Not all professors do, though. Only one of mine did— the other did not. But she did post all the assignments and their due dates on Moodle. So, in this case (obviously) just input the dates manually in your calendar of choice. Yes, it may seem like a bit of tedious work, but in the end it will be worth it. Trust me.

REMEMBER TO ADD ALERTS/REMINDERS.

This is important— it doesn’t do you much good to have your assignments in your calendar if you forget to check it before the due date. Make sure you set up a multiple alerts/reminders. I usually give myself two— one the “day before” and another one “two hours before” to make sure I don’t forget to have them turned in.

DON’T PROCRASTINATE

I know this is easier said than done— trust me, I know…But, still something that needs to be said and done. I actually once failed a class I was taking over the summer because I put off taking one of the exams until the last day it was due. Unfortunately, I also happened to be camping at the beach with absolutely zero internet connection. Oops.

Another time (yes, this happened multiple times- I told you I knew about procrastination) I left the test to the last minute and realized that I had accidentally mixed up the time a test was closing because I thought it was going to be the same as homework had always been (due Sunday nights at 11 PM). Instead, he had given us three days to take the test from when he opened it Thursday morning to Saturday night. Oops again.

Turn things in early. ESPECIALLY exams. Tests are always worth the biggest chunk of points in most classes, but it appears to be especially true for online ones (since there is really no way for professors to give participation points or pop-quizzes when you aren’t actually physically attending a class.) Trust me, the last thing you want is to have to retake a class because you missed the deadline for an exam.

Set aside a time and place to do your work

One of the best things about online classes is that they work around your own personal schedule. No need to be at school at a specific time on this day and that day. That’s super convenient!

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that that means you don’t have to actually set aside a time and place to do your work. You may think that you can just squeeze in time between/after/before work/other classes/other commitments, but that’ll just cause you stress and risk you missing points on assignments & tests from rushing them or being distracted.

Treat your online homework and tests the same way you would treat “normal” homework and tests— don’t try to complete your weekly quiz on your smartphone during your break at work. Don’t try to take your test while making dinner and soothing a crying baby. It may not be easy, but it’s in your best interest to set aside a time and place to do your work. Schedule some time once or twice a week (depending on how often you have assignments due) where you’re free from distractions and can focus on completing your work. If you have a test, block out the time for it (the max time allowed for tests is always posted next to the test on Moodle) and go take it at the library or somewhere else quiet. Remember that while all the other things in your life are very important, so is doing well in school. We wouldn’t be enrolled otherwise!

That’s all for now, Renegades. Hope you have a fantastic second week back at school!

Keep a look out for my next post this weekend, where I review a new restaurant that opened in town! (If you know this blog, you probably know which one I’m talking about ;))

The Spring Semester of 2016 has just begun and I hope you’re all ready to hit the books and get back to work. I’d like to take this time to remind you of all the free services Bakersfield College has to offer. For more information and tips from your fellow Renegades click here.

It is also the time for resolutions! I’m sure we’ve all made them for the New Year and the list of them is endless. What kind of resolutions have you made for yourself this semester? My resolution this semester is to meet more of you! My goal is to meet with more students of a wide variety to share their story. You can learn a lot from people and I can tell you ever since I was given this opportunity I have met so many people with incredible and encouraging stories on the Bakersfield College campus.

What kind of resolutions have you made this semester? Let us know! Would you like to share your story to help encourage others let me know so we can meet!